Baycrest Health Sciences & Baycrest Foundation Publications
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Cooking up some memories, deli style W ant a sure way to conjure up some happy memories? Go and eat. Specifically, go cook or grab some of your favourite comfort food and bask in the happy feelings that wash over you with every bite. Or, you could take it one step further and open up your own chain of smoked meat deli restaurants and immerse yourself in the culture of comfort food by creating new memories for both you and others to relive over and over. Zane Caplansky, Toronto's nouveau-deli maven and renowned restaurateur-about-town, chose the latter. When he opened up his eponymous smoked meat flagship eatery on College Street in 2009, it was an act of astute business opportunity; it also paid homage to his family's tradition in the deli food industry (his great-grandfather owned a butcher shop two blocks from his store, and his great-grandmother sold deli sandwiches in the same neighbourhood). It was also part gastronomic ode to the memory of his grandfather – his "papa" Sam Hershorn – who would lovingly take a young Caplansky out for their weekly Sunday ritual of corned beef sandwiches. These are memories that linger with him; memories he wants to preserve. Food, Caplansky says, "allows the individual to remember the feeling of eating something that was prepared by somebody who loves them more than anybody else ever would or could. In very many ways, life in a deli and the relationships that me and my staff have with customers; the way we have become part of the community – those things have to do with memory and belonging." Which is why, when Baycrest gave Caplansky the opportunity to suit-up for its 2046 Challenge in support of brain health research and care, he was all-in. The challenge asks participants to complete some of their daily tasks while wearing a specially designed "30/30" suit in which the wearer feels like he/she has aged 30 years in 30 minutes. It's an emotional, educational and revelatory experience. "It's great to see that Baycrest has done such a wonderful job in the area of brain research; of being able to offer brain health education and solutions to the community. For me, as a Torontonian, to be able to help bring awareness and give back a little to what Baycrest has meant to my family and our community, is a huge honour and privilege," Caplansky says. His great-grandfather and other relatives were residents at Baycrest. " I know this has increased my empathy for people. Empathy is a really powerful and important emotion to live by." 6 BrainMatters SPRING 2017